How can I add a new file to .csproj file without visual studio

Question

How can I add a new file to .csproj from command prompt?

And why would you want to do such a thing? What is the goal? — Shadow The GPT Wizard, Jan 17 '13 at 15:59
This is a genuine question, I don't agree that it should have been closed. — Paul Ruane, Jan 17 '13 at 15:59
With no context and very little information, it should remain closed. — jrummell, Jan 17 '13 at 16:02
I want to generate classes (following some kind of pattern) and attach those classes to several .csprojs — Alexander Beninski, Jan 17 '13 at 16:04
@AlexanderBeninski, that's an awful idea. What happens when you need to change the code in the class? A single class library complied into a DLL seems like a better approach. — James Hill, Jan 17 '13 at 16:05
@AlexanderBeninski, take a look at T4 templates to generate your code. — Paul Ruane, Jan 17 '13 at 17:20

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 17 '13 at 16:10

I don't think there's any tool that will respond to an "add-project" command on the command-line to do this, but I think you could have luck creating a program/script to manipulate the XML content of csproj files directly.

The structure of a csproj file looks like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Project ToolsVersion="4.0" DefaultTargets="Build" xmlns="...">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <!-- Properties which affect the build process -->
    </PropertyGroup>
    <ItemGroup>
        <!-- Groups of items to process -->
    </ItemGroup>
</Project>

To add a C# code file to a project, you just need to add a Compile element to an ItemGroup element:

<Compile Include="{relative path to file}" />

If you use an existing project file as a template, this should be possible with a very simple XSLT.

Dan Csharpster · Answer 2 · 2016-03-15T15:29:13.343

Here's an easy way you can do it using Linq2Xml. I've included a single and a list based method. Oh, and like Casper said: you'll need to unload the project from VS before your program can edit it. Then just reload it when done.

    private static void AddFilesToUnitTestProject(FileInfo[] files, string measureBaseDirPath, string measureDataDirSuffix)
    {
        var unitTestProjectPath = measureBaseDirPath + _unitTestProjectFile;
        var unitTestProjectFile = XDocument.Load(unitTestProjectPath);
        var itemGroup = unitTestProjectFile.Nodes()
                          .OfType<XElement>()
                          .DescendantNodes()
                          .OfType<XElement>().First(xy => xy.Name.LocalName == "ItemGroup");

        foreach (var fileInfo in files)
        {
            var xelem = AddProjectContent(measureDataDirSuffix + fileInfo.Name, unitTestProjectFile);
            itemGroup.Add(xelem);
        }
        unitTestProjectFile.Save(unitTestProjectPath);
    }

    private static void AddFileToUnitTestProject(string pathToAdd, string measureBaseDirPath, string measureDataDir)
    {
        var unitTestProjectPath = measureBaseDirPath + _unitTestProjectFile;
        var unitTestProjectFile = XDocument.Load(unitTestProjectPath);
        var itemGroup =
        unitTestProjectFile.Nodes()
                           .OfType<XElement>()
                           .DescendantNodes()
                           .OfType<XElement>().First(xy => xy.Name.LocalName == "ItemGroup");
        var xelem = AddProjectContent(pathToAdd, unitTestProjectFile);
        itemGroup.Add(xelem);
        unitTestProjectFile.Save(unitTestProjectPath);
    }

private static XElement AddProjectContent(string pathToAdd, XDocument doc) 
{ 
    XNamespace rootNamespace = doc.Root.Name.NamespaceName; 
    var xelem = new XElement(rootNamespace + "Content"); 
    xelem.Add(new XAttribute("Include", pathToAdd)); 
    xelem.Add(new XElement(rootNamespace + "CopyToOutputDirectory", "Always")); 
    return xelem; 
}

Updated with AddProjectContent method

Could you please provide the code for AddProjectContent because your answer should fix my problem.. — Daniel W., Dec 19 '13 at 13:00
Sure no problem. Here ya go: private static XElement AddProjectContent(string pathToAdd, XDocument doc) { XNamespace rootNamespace = doc.Root.Name.NamespaceName; var xelem = new XElement(rootNamespace + "Content"); xelem.Add(new XAttribute("Include", pathToAdd)); xelem.Add(new XElement(rootNamespace + "CopyToOutputDirectory", "Always")); return xelem; } — Dan Csharpster, Dec 20 '13 at 16:36

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:33

.csproj files can be used as input into the MSBuild command line tool.

See the MSBuild reference:

MS Build Reference

And for example, this question.

MSBuild — Use the .csproj file or roll your own?

You can simply use a text editor to edit them and do anything MSBuild allows. If you insert custom build actions Visual Studio might warn a developer when the project is loaded that it contains custom actions, depending on what you do.

score -1 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 17 '13 at 16:06

-1

Unload the project by right clicking it in solution explorer. Edit the project by right clicking. Add f.ex:

<Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />

answered Jan 17 '13 at 16:06

Casper Leon Nielsen

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I would like to know the reason for the downvote, as this is a working answer to the question asked. – Casper Leon Nielsen Sep 18 '19 at 11:38
2

I didn't downvote, but the question explicitly says "without visual studio". Your answer doesn't respect that criteria. – Carlos Jimenez Bermudez Jan 03 '21 at 21:19

How can I add a new file to .csproj file without visual studio

4 Answers4

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